About Anna
Anna Steffens is an experienced harpist and vocalist based in Santa Barbara, California. She began playing professionally in 2000 at wedding ceremonies, receptions, other functions. Her repertoire includes classical, traditional, jazz and popular music.
A native of San Luis Obispo, California, Anna began her study of harp at age six and took private lessons for fourteen years under the direction of Penny Beavers, Jennifer Sayre and Susan Allen. She won first place in the San Luis Obispo Monday Clubhouse Conservancy Music Award in 2003 and earned a scholarship from the National Federation of Independent Business.
Anna has played with a wide range of groups, including performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City with the Wind Ensemble of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo; at Lincoln Center in New York City with the San Luis Obispo High School Choir; in Tuebingen, Germany, with the University Orchestra of Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen; and in the Chicago area with the West Suburban Symphony.
Anna is also a talented vocalist. She took private voice lessons for several years and has sung in a variety of choral groups.
Anna returned to California in 2020 and is now working to expand her professional harp work in Santa Barbara County.
“A picture may be worth a thousand words, but I believe music is much more than this. Music has the ability to evoke emotions that connect people to a unique moment in time. Through my music, I seek to elicit the right emotion for the occasion – be that love, joy, jubilation or serenity.”
– Anna Steffens
About Anna’s Harp
Anna plays a semi-grand concert harp with 47 strings and seven pedals. It reaches 5’8” at the crown and weighs 75 pounds. It was made in Piasco, Italy, by the renowned manufacturer Salvi Harps. The model is called a Sinfonietta and has a mahogany finish. When Anna was just eight years old, she graduated from a smaller lever harp to this concert harp and it has been her constant companion for nearly 30 years.